New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) announced today that New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa would be the interim U.S. Senator to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) who passed away on Monday.

While Chiesa is a Republican, he opposes the death penalty and supports gun buyback programs.

During an interview with NJ Today in 2012, Chiesa said he opposed the death penalty because an innocent person could be executed.

“[If] you’re not right about that, there’s no way in any way to remedy that decision and the consequences of administering that decision,” said Chiesa.

On gun buybacks, Chiesa told Philly.com in May of this year: “Gun buybacks are helping to make New Jersey safer, and because they’re paid for with criminal forfeiture funds, they don’t cost the taxpayers a penny.”

In a May press release, Chiesa added: “The weapons we take in are melted down. They can never be stolen and used in a street crime. They can never kill a curious child. They can never turn a traffic dispute into a tragedy, and they can never claim the life of one of our brave police officers.”

A special election will be held in October for the U.S. Senate seat, which Chiesa is not running for.